Bridge The Gulf Project - Vietnamesehttp://bridgethegulfproject.org/taxonomy/term/44
enMississippi youth celebrate Asian culture, raise money for fishing communitieshttp://bridgethegulfproject.org/blog/2010/mississippi-youth-celebrate-asian-culture-raise-money-fishing-communities
<div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden"><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/moon%20fest%20break%20dancing.jpg" width="250" height="285" style="margin: 8px; float: right;" />An annual Asian heritage festival, hosted by Mississippi youth, is now extending into an ongoing effort to support fishing families impacted by the BP oil disaster. </p>
<p>In October, the Vietnamese youth group <a href="http://www.gulfcoastreach.org/">Gulf Coast REACH</a> hosted the 4th Annual Mid-Autumn Moon Festival in downtown Biloxi, Mississippi. The festival was intended to be a “Day of Respite and Spirit” for those affected by the oil disaster.</p>
<p> “We originally came up with this idea because a lot of the fishermen right now, because of the oil spill, are emotionally unstable, economically unstable, and they just need a day where they can relax and kick back,” explains Tony Nguyen, President of Gulf Coast REACH (<em>Recognize and Empower Asian Community and Heritage</em>). </p>
<p>That one day of relaxing also brought in $10,000 in donations, and Nguyen says the group is now “thinking about the long term,” and how best to make an ongoing impact in the lives of struggling fishermen and their families. </p>
<p> On a sunny Sunday in October, fishermen; dancers and singers; families and teenagers; neighbors and passersby loafed and played on the Biloxi Town Green. They enjoyed food, the sunshine, the entertainment, and each other, as youth from across the Gulf Coast belted out Lady Gaga tunes and showcased their break dancing skills on stage. Performers also celebrated Asian culture and heritage through lion dancing and other traditional Vietnamese performances. </p>
<p><img src="/sites/default/files/tony%20nguyen_moon%20fest.jpg" width="500" height="375" style="margin: 8px auto; display: block;" /><em>Tony Nguyen, President of Gulf Coast REACH.</em></p>
<p>Nguyen explains that the festival is based on the first full moon of the autumn season, which is a time for, “tradition, spending time with your family, relaxing, hoping for good crops.”</p>
<p>This year the crops – crab, shrimp, oysters, and fish from the Gulf of Mexico – are in trouble. So it was especially important for the community to reconnect over heritage and fun, rather than at a meeting about the BP claims process or in the food stamps line. </p>
<p>Throughout the festival, selling cold sodas, directing the models down the catwalk, doling out prizes at the carnival games, and making sure everything was running smoothly, were the youth of Gulf Coast REACH. The group was founded four years ago by Asian American entrepreneurs and business people on the Mississippi Gulf Coast to give back to their community and celebrate their culture. But over the years young people in the community, like Tony Nguyen, have stepped in and taken the reins.<br /><img src="/sites/default/files/x-pressions%20moon%20fest.jpg" width="500" height="398" style="margin: 8px auto; display: block;" /><em>X-pressions, who won Best Gulf Coast Dance Crew at the festival.</em></p>
<p>Nguyen, now a freshman at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, says he was first drawn to the group because he’s always cared about community service, and liked the mix of celebrating Asian American culture and focusing on youth. Since the BP disaster, the group’s work hits even closer to home. “For me personally, it deeply affected my family. Almost all of my aunts, uncles, even my grandma, they were all in the seafood industry.”</p>
<p> The group met their goal of raising $10,000 in donations from the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, to distribute to the fishing community. They doled out the first $1,000 over Thanksgiving, in pies and turkeys to families in need (<a href="http://www.bridgethegulfproject.org/node/197">read more from Gulf Coast REACH member and Bridge The Gulf contributor Mickey Sou</a>).</p>
<p><img src="/sites/default/files/father%20and%20son%20moon%20fest.jpg" width="454" height="640" style="margin: 8px auto; display: block;" /><em>A father and son enjoy the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. Photo by Ada McMahon.</em></p>
<p>Nguyen says that though it felt good to help provide a festive Thanksgiving for fishermen across the coast, Gulf Coast REACH decided not to do similar charity work this Christmas season.</p>
<p> “[The Thanksgiving donations] only helped about 50 families, and only during the holidays, so that helped us put it into perspective. [Now we’re thinking,] what can we really do to make an impact with this money?”<br /><img src="/sites/default/files/moon%20fest%20vending.jpg" width="500" height="375" style="margin: 8px auto; display: block;" /><em>All photos by Ada McMahon. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/51455778@N06/sets/72157625135189849/">View more here</a>.</em></p>
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Thu, 23 Dec 2010 18:45:35 +0000Ada McMahon212 at http://bridgethegulfproject.orghttp://bridgethegulfproject.org/blog/2010/mississippi-youth-celebrate-asian-culture-raise-money-fishing-communities#commentsVietnamese American youth act, reflect on the DREAM Acthttp://bridgethegulfproject.org/blog/2010/vietnamese-american-youth-act-reflect-dream-act
<div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden"><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/dream%20act%20crop.png" width="250" height="251" style="float: right; margin: 8px;" />With the DREAM Act now stopped by the Senate, the Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association of New Orleans (<a href="http://www.vayla-no.org/">VAYLA-NO</a>) continues to hope that undocumented young people across the nation will get the opportunity to become American citizens.</p>
<p>When our Youth Advisory Board considered the DREAM Act, its purposes, and its outcomes, they found so many pros and benefits to the Act that they decided VAYLA-NO should support the campaign and get involved. Just reading and speaking with each other within the group, we felt that it’s something we are passionate about because we are mostly the sons and daughters of immigrants. A few of the youths here at VAYLA are immigrants themselves so the DREAM Act is very important to them. The DREAM Act will support our education, our armed forces, and most importantly, our economy.</p>
<p>With less than 48 hours until the DREAM Act approached the floor of the House of Representatives, VAYLA, pioneered by a member of the Youth Advisory Board named Victoria Tran, organized a candlelight vigil called “Lighting Our Hope for Our Dreams.” The vigil was co-hosted by <a href="http://www.puentesno.org/">Puentes</a>, a "Latino serving, Latino run" community group in New Orleans that also supports the DREAM Act. With the two organizations working together, the candlelight vigil was a major success in outreaching to the community for support, voicing our personal testimonies about undocumented students, and gathering local leaders from the City Council, the Archdiocese, and various agencies. </p>
<p><img src="/sites/default/files/dream%20act%20vigil%20puentes.JPG" width="595" height="446" style="margin: 8px auto; display: block;" /><em></em><br />On the day the DREAM Act reached the floor of the House of Representatives, youth at the VAYLA Center were still trying to outreach to the community to support the campaign. VAYLA also called Senator Mary Landrieu’s office in Washington, D.C. to see if she would support the DREAM Act, which she did. A few hours later, the House of Representatives passed the bill by a 216-198 vote. Victoria Tran was very ecstatic about the news, and she anticipated the next phase of the bill being in the Senate. </p>
<p>With the Senate’s vote to stop the DREAM Act from passing this last Saturday, many youth are very disappointed about the outcome. But President Obama’s promise to the Hispanic caucus to not give up on the DREAM Act helps brings some hope to the youth here at VAYLA.</p>
<p><img src="/sites/default/files/dream%20act%20vigil%20puentes%203.JPG" width="595" height="446" style="margin: 8px auto; display: block;" /><em><br />All photos by <a href="http://www.puentesno.org/">Puentes New Orleans</a>.<br /></em><br /><em>Sean D. T. Nguyen grew up in Houma, Louisiana for fourteen years. He has been highly involved with many organizations like church choir and Student Council and created different events such as the first Youth Relay for Life in Terrebonne Parish. After moving to New Orleans in 2007, Sean is a senior studying in Psychology with a focus on Counseling and Social Work and minoring in Biology and Chemistry at the University of New Orleans. He is the Program Coordinator of the Family Circle program and the Mentorship program in 2010 of the Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association of New Orleans (VAYLA-NO).</em></p>
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Wed, 22 Dec 2010 02:19:32 +0000Sean Nguyen209 at http://bridgethegulfproject.orghttp://bridgethegulfproject.org/blog/2010/vietnamese-american-youth-act-reflect-dream-act#commentsNew Vietnamese-language job training at Mississippi community collegehttp://bridgethegulfproject.org/blog/2010/new-vietnamese-language-job-training-mississippi-community-college
<div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden"><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/1-Tuan-Nguyen-HVAC-student_270.jpg" width="270" height="180" style="margin: 8px; float: right;" />Finding himself working as both a teacher and translator in a Heating, Ventilating and Air-conditioning Installation and Repair (HVAC) program was a surprise for Duc Nguyen. An experienced HVAC professional, he said, “I have always been a very hands-on type, and I never really liked the classroom. I have learned to appreciate the importance of the time spent there since teaching this class.”<br /> <br />Nguyen is teaching a Vietnamese-language HVAC class at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College’s Jefferson Davis Campus. Gulf Coast is offering the class in partnership with Asian Americans for Change through a Mississippi Department of Employment Security grant. The 14 program participants in the 40-hour program will receive a Certificate of Completion from Gulf Coast when they successfully finish the course.</p>
<p><em>Photo caption: Tuan Nguyen does hands-on training in a Vietnamese-language Heating, Ventilating and Air-conditioning Installation and Repair (HVAC) program at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College’s Jefferson Davis Campus.</em><br /> <br />“This offers many individuals who are looking for alternative careers the opportunity to learn a trade that could eventually lead to them running their own businesses,” Nguyen said. “In the South, you can count on people always needing air-conditioning repair so despite economic conditions, the job is in demand.”<br /> <br />He said he is thrilled with how motivated the students are to learn. “Most of the students in this class are nontraditional (older) students. They come to class wanting to learn.”<br /> <br />Wayne Kuntz, Gulf Coast’s Workforce Development director in Harrison and Stone counties, said additional Vietnamese-language training may be offered in HVAC and Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) programs. The programs are offered at no cost to qualified participants.<br /> <br />“The college strives to offer programs and classes that meet the needs of both workforce and industry in our district. Since there is a significant Asian-American population in South Mississippi, these programs are an outstanding opportunity for Gulf Coast to partner with the community to train individuals high-demand fields.”<br /> <br />To find out more about the programs, contact Kaitlin Truong, with Asian Americans for Change, 228-806-1384.</p>
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Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:34:02 +0000Bridge The Gulf207 at http://bridgethegulfproject.orghttp://bridgethegulfproject.org/blog/2010/new-vietnamese-language-job-training-mississippi-community-college#commentsVietnamese-American fishers fight for oil spill claim approvalhttp://bridgethegulfproject.org/blog/2010/vietnamese-american-fishers-fight-oil-spill-claim-approval
<div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden"><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><p><span class="adv-photo-large"><img src="http://media.nola.com/2010_gulf_oil_spill/photo/9126485-large.jpg" alt="fisheries.jpg" width="250" height="188" style="margin: 8px; float: right;" class="adv-photo" /></span><span>By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, <a href="http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/12/vietnamese-american_fishermen.html">The Times-Picayune</a> </span></p>
<p>For decades the Vietnamese-American fishing community in southeast Louisiana has used fish, shrimp, oysters and crab to feed the community and as currency to barter for other goods and produce.</p>
<p>It is a story common to the fishing culture throughout the Gulf Coast, with anglers, trawlers and trappers often distributing portions of their catch back into their local communities to feed others or through informal systems of trade.</p>
<p>But in the wake of <a href="http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/">the Gulf oil spill</a>, that web of community networks has faltered and the subsistence claim process to compensate the fishers, and the communities they once helped support, is vague, difficult to navigate and appears to require documentation that many cannot provide, some Vietnamese-American fishers said during a news conference at the <a href="http://www.mqvncdc.org/page.php?id=16">Mary Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corporation</a> office in eastern New Orleans Wednesday.</p>
<div id="asset-9126485" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_left" style="text-align: left;"><em><span class="adv-photo-large"><span class="photo-data"><span class="byline">Photo by Rusty Costanza, The Times-Picayune archive</span><span class="caption">.<br />Members of the Vietnamese community listen during a community meeting at Mary Queen of Vietnam Church in New Orleans in May, weeks after the explosion of the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.</span></span></span></em></div>
<p style="text-align: left;"><em>Read the rest of the story on <a href="http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/12/vietnamese-american_fishermen.html">Nola.com</a></em></p>
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Thu, 16 Dec 2010 21:08:37 +0000Bridge The Gulf205 at http://bridgethegulfproject.orghttp://bridgethegulfproject.org/blog/2010/vietnamese-american-fishers-fight-oil-spill-claim-approval#commentsReeling from BP, Alabama residents still seek assistance to rebuild after Katrina [VIDEO]http://bridgethegulfproject.org/blog/2010/reeling-bp-alabama-residents-still-seek-assistance-rebuild-after-katrina-video
<div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden"><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><p><em><img src="/sites/default/files/ana_chau_crop.png" alt="ana_chau" width="250" height="189" style="margin: 10px; float: right;" /></em><em>Bayou La Batre, Alabama</em> - Like so many on the Gulf Coast, Ana Chau is dealing with two disasters.</p>
<p>This time last year, she and her husband made their living shucking oysters. Now they are out of work, their industry crippled indefinitely by the millions of gallons of crude oil and toxic dispersant dumped into the Gulf of Mexico by BP.</p>
<p>They've been receiving checks from BP that partially compensate their lost income, but it is not enough to pay the bills. Ana says they can afford food, but not school books for their three children.</p>
<p><em>Ana Chau in her kitchen. Photo by Ada McMahon.</em></p>
<p>In the midst of all this new uncertainty, stress, and growing domestic strain, Ana and her family are still trying to recover from the Gulf Coast's other disaster, Hurricane Katrina.</p>
<p>Five years ago, the storm ripped a hole in their roof and lashed their house, inside and out, with wind and rain. After Katrina, they applied for government assistance to repair their home. But they did not qualify because they didn't have the title to their house. By the time the previous homeowner wrote a letter confirming she had sold it to the Chaus, the two-week window to apply for funding had closed.</p>
<p>Now the Chaus are one of hundreds of families along the Alabama Gulf Coast who, excluded from government assistance and without the means to finish repairs on their own, continue to live in or wait to return home to sub-standard, storm-damaged housing.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Watch: Ana Chau shows her home's Katrina damage </strong></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Disparities in Government Assistance</strong></span></p>
<p>Ana's challenge of proving home-ownership is common here, where many low-income people own "heir property" that's been passed down through families without a paper trail. This is just one of the barriers that have disproportionately excluded low-income communities and communities of color from government rebuilding assistance.</p>
<p>In 2005, Congress appropriated $11.5 billion in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) for the Gulf Coast to rebuild after Katrina. But many did not qualify for grants because they rented their homes; missed the two-week window to apply; didn't have the English proficiency or literacy to fill out the paperwork; were told by government officials, incorrectly, that they weren't eligible; or simply never knew about the grants.</p>
<p>Documentation of which individuals received CDBG funding is not publicly available, but residents here say you can see the discrimination in their communities.</p>
<p>Minh Van Le, a commercial shrimper in Bayou La Batre and board member of the South Bay Communities Alliance, says of CDBG allocation, "You've got like three houses in a row that have damage in the same condition, but why does one house get it and the other two or three didn't get it?... It's a lot <img src="/sites/default/files/black_mold_rosie_robbins.jpg" alt="black_mold" width="300" height="189" style="float: right; margin: 10px;" />of unfair practice."</p>
<p>In Snow's Quarter, Bayou La Batre's historic African American neighborhood, several residents say only three houses have been rebuilt in their community. Meanwhile Barbara Robbins worries that her 85 year-old-mother Gertrude will fall through rotting floorboards, which soften every time it rains and water floods the underside of their home. Robbins did not know about CDBG funding until the deadline had passed, and said the same is true for many of her neighbors. </p>
<p><em>Black mold growing on Rosie Robbin's vents. Photo by Ada McMahon.</em></p>
<p>Meanwhile, her sister-in-law Rosie, just down the block, has black mold growing on vents in her ceiling, exacerbating her son's asthma. According to local housing codes, rebuilding their homes in this flood-prone area would require elevating them as well, at an estimated $20,000 cost. Neither Rosie nor Barbara, who are on disability, have the money.</p>
<p>In addition to the hundreds of people like Barbara, Rosie, and Ana, who have been excluded all together, many applicants that were approved for CDBG funding a full three years ago won't get it. Alabama is nearly out of money for rebuilding.</p>
<p>Of the $11.5 billion in Community Development Block Grants intended for the Gulf Coast after Katrina, less than $100 million was allocated to Alabama, with only $32 million specifically directed towards housing. The total allocation of funds to Mobile County to repair and rebuild housing met only approximately 7% of the estimated need. Roughly 700 approved applicants in the county are waiting for funding that may never come, 438 of whom have homes that were "seriously damaged or destroyed."</p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>It's about Human Rights</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Last month, the United Nations released a report finding that the United States has not done enough to create affordable housing, schools, and hospitals after Katrina, "failings which have disproportionately impacted the poor and communities of colour." These failings amount to human rights abuses by the U.S. government on Gulf Coast citizens, says another report by the NGO groups <a href="http://www.ehumanrights.org/">Advocates for Environmental Human Rights</a> and the Gulf States Human Rights Working Group.</p>
<p>Human rights abuses after Katrina, particularly against communities of color and in the area of housing, are certainly not confined to Alabama. In New Orleans, Louisiana, four major public housing projects have been torn down since the storm, fueling homelessness and prolonging the displacement of thousands of low-income African Americans for whom the city was home. In Mississippi, $600 million intended for low- and moderate-income housing was instead spent on the state-owned port.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Keeping up the pressure, five years later</strong></span></p>
<p><img src="/sites/default/files/barbara_robbins_small.jpg" alt="barbara_robbins" width="300" height="225" style="margin: 10px; float: right;" />Since Katrina, many community members have become advocates, pressuring government officials and representatives to address their rebuilding needs and racial disparities. Barbara and Rosie Robbins have traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Maxine Waters, and to regional meetings with the community group South Bay Communities Alliance.<em></em></p>
<p>But community advocates worry that, a full five years after Hurricane Katrina and with the BP disaster dominating headlines this summer, it will be challenging to garner media attention and the political will to address pre-existing human rights issues.</p>
<p><em>Barbara Robbins outside the home she shares with her mother and daughter. Photo by Ada McMahon.</em></p>
<p>Barbara Robbins hopes BP and Katrina are not seen as either/or issues. After all, in many cases it is the same people who are suffering from both disasters. She's concerned that her ongoing housing issues have been, "put back on the back burner. I understand there are other things going on, with the oil spill, but you've got to worry about the residents after Hurricane Katrina."</p>
<p> But there may be opportunities to make gains soon.</p>
<p>Just two days ago, in response to the aforementioned United Nations report on human rights, the U.S. government released a statement saying it will conduct an inter-agency examination of the U.N.'s human rights recommendations. Monique Harden of Advocates for Environmental Human Rights called it "a positive step forward." </p>
<p>In September, Fred Tombar, a Senior Advisor in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, visited Mobile county at the invitation of several community groups (The South Bay Communities Alliance, Equity and Inclusion Campaign, Mobile Center for Fair Housing, and the Bay Area Women's Coalition).</p>
<p>Despite five years of their advocacy resulting in mostly unfulfilled government promises, about 75 community members, including Barbara and Rosie Robbins and Ana Chau, met with Tombar. After hearing account after account of residents' ongoing housing struggles post-Katrina, Tombar expressed shock and disappointment. He told the community that he truly believes leaders in Washington, D.C. simply do not know how bad the situation is. Tombar pledged to do what he can do to figure out a solution to the communities' housing needs.</p>
<p>Residents were struck by Tombar's words, but know they need to keep up pressure in order to see action.</p>
<p>Says Minh Van Le, "We won't stop. We'll let Washington know about it. We're going to continue to try to get some help down here for these folks that have been left out."</p>
<p>For her part, Ana hopes her story and images of her house will be shared in Washington, D.C., to show what's really going on and finally secure some assistance for her family, for Bayou La Batre, and for others on the Gulf Coast.</p>
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<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/land-and-housing-1">land and housing</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/179">south bay communities alliance</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/race-and-racial-justice-4">race and racial justice</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/258">racial disparities</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/taxonomy/term/259">socila and economic justice</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/260">Community Development Block Grants</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/taxonomy/term/261">Minh Van Le</a></div>
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Thu, 11 Nov 2010 18:57:11 +0000Ada McMahon170 at http://bridgethegulfproject.orghttp://bridgethegulfproject.org/blog/2010/reeling-bp-alabama-residents-still-seek-assistance-rebuild-after-katrina-video#commentsMy family's business weathers the BP heathttp://bridgethegulfproject.org/blog/2010/my-familys-business-weathers-bp-heat
<div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden"><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><p><em><img src="/sites/default/files/u16/jennifer_le_crop.jpg" alt="jen_le" width="300" height="298" style="float: right; margin: 10px;" /></em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">August 4, 2010</span> - School was going to start in two weeks. My parents were still out of work. My mom was trying to find a job. Almost every day, she would come to me and asked, “Jennifer, bay gio, me con lam gi, me lam gi duc? (Jennifer, now what am I to do, what can I do?)” </p>
<p>Honestly, I did not know how to answer. I know her background of work. Ever since she came to the states, her only work experience was surrounded by seafood. There weren’t really any answers or solutions that I could offer. There were the possibilities of me taking a break from college and assisting the needs of my family. However, the main question was, “What is the best solution?” My parents had two major bills to pay: the mortgage and the shop’s loan. Bills were piling up. </p>
<p>Yes, we did receive checks, but these checks didn’t compare to the amount of my parents' actual work. We did our best to not complain because it was better than nothing at all. No one wanted to struggle or complain. As managers, life itself, was even harder. It’s not just about my family, my parents, or even the shop. If my parents weren’t working, then their employees were not working either. In addition to all the oil-spill troubles, there were some internal issues within the family already.</p>
<p>A week later, I sat down and just thought about all the possible solutions. Continuing school was the first solution, of course, but that would take some time, which my family didn’t have. Getting a job was the second solution, but no one was hiring. This summer outlook wasn’t what I expected. My final solution was figuring out a new business for my family. It wasn’t possible.</p>
<p>No one was cooling off from his or her stress. Many just hid under covers. However, the layers and unnecessary covers were not needed for this crazy heat. I was tired of the heat and unnecessary sweat. </p>
<object style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="425" height="344" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/QgeG-QjHh4U?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="data" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QgeG-QjHh4U?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QgeG-QjHh4U?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /></object><p>I came to my mother and told her, “I can take a break from school. I can find a job. I’ll do what I can to help here. I’ll take a year off and figure things out for the family.” She was silent for a moment. Then she spoke softly, “No, you need to continue your studies. There’s no point in wasting your time to fix this. It’s not a fast fix.” I didn’t know what to say after that. Each day, I waited.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">August 18, 2010</span>. </p>
<p> “We can work again!” was the first thing that my dad said Sunday morning. He received the news from one of his fishermen that gets crabs for him. Immediately, my heart felt the relief. They were able to get back work in the nick of time when I was about to go school. </p>
<p>The next morning, I saw my mom with a bright smile on her face. She had the look of a relief. She didn’t have the tense shoulders that felt too hard to touch. She was finally relieved again. Seeing her smile made me realized. Every day, she wakes up and goes to work. She sincerely enjoys it. She does not wake up at 4 AM to just bring bread on the table. She works to enjoy her everyday life for herself and family.</p>
<p><strong>To be continued... </strong></p>
<p><em>Jennifer Le of Biloxi, Mississippi, is currently a sophomore at University at Albany, Albany, NY. Her major is Biology with a medical concentration and she is intending to minor in Chinese. She volunteers as a current attendant under Five Quad Volunteer Ambulance Service. She’s a member of Chinese Student Association, in addition to being Social Chair and Webmaster. </em></p>
<p><em>Thi Le and Hue Nguyen, her parents, own </em><em>Jennifer Le Seafood,</em><em> which processes crabmeat. The shop, which is named after the only daughter in the family, has been in business for more than 10 years.</em></p>
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<div class="field field--name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field--type-taxonomy-term-reference field--label-above clearfix">
<div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/key-topics/culture-and-traditions">Culture and Traditions</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/taxonomy/term/19">Environment</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/places/mississippi">Mississippi</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/taxonomy/term/44">Vietnamese</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/49">seafood</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/11">11</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/places/biloxi">biloxi</a></div>
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Fri, 08 Oct 2010 03:19:49 +0000Jennifer Le144 at http://bridgethegulfproject.orghttp://bridgethegulfproject.org/blog/2010/my-familys-business-weathers-bp-heat#commentsMary Queen of Viet Nam: Building a Green Future in the Gulf, from the Ground Uphttp://bridgethegulfproject.org/blog/2010/mary-queen-viet-nam-building-green-future-gulf-ground
<div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden"><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><p><object width="600" height="362" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/1BSSla5b1-E?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="data" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1BSSla5b1-E?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1BSSla5b1-E?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /></object></p><p> By Mary Queen of Viet Nam Community Development Corporation. Crossposted from <a href="http://www.greenforall.org/blog/mary-queen-of-vietnam-building-a-green-future-in-the-gulf-from-the-ground-up">GreenForAll.org</a>.</p>
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<p>After Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans residents were scattered all over the country. Rebuilding our community was the most pressing — and most daunting — task facing <span class="link-external"><a class="external-link" href="http://www.mqvncdc.org/">Mary Queen of Viet Nam Community Development Corporation</a></span> (MQVN CDC). We organized to help our congregation come home, and about 90% of the people who lived near the church returned.</p>
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<p>The<img src="http://www.greenforall.org/blog/mary-queen-of-vietnam-building-a-green-future-in-the-gulf-from-the-ground-up/image_mini" alt="Mary Queen of Viet Nam: Building a Green Future in the Gulf, from the Ground Up" title="Community Organizer Tap Bui speaks with local fisherfolk affected by the BP oil drilling disaster." width="200" height="150" style="float: right; margin: 10px;" class="newsImage" /> next step was to organize to keep our community thriving and alive. We successfully shut down a landfill that was polluting our air and water, and started other projects to rebuild our community and help it grow economically. Our three target areas for local economic development were all in the green economy, even before this year's BP oil disaster. We have been working to help our community prepare for jobs and business opportunities in green construction, urban agriculture, and gulf coast restoration. Former fisherpeople are already working as contractors doing energy efficiency and solar installation work. And as part of a White House initiative, a solar company is donating solar panels that we'll be putting on our upcoming health clinic. These developments, along with work we did earlier this year where a local solar company financed panels on several key community leaders' homes, are starting to educate our community and build demand for clean energy. This demand will help us create jobs and businesses outside of fishing and the oil industry.</p>
<p>One of our most exciting projects is the <span class="link-external"><a class="external-link" href="http://www.mqvncdc.org/page.php?id=18">Viet Village Urban Farm</a></span>, a 28-acre agriculture project that will build on our community's cultural strengths – generations of experience in farming and fishing – and create new jobs and businesses. In fact, the farm itself will employ 75 people once it's going full speed. As we develop the Viet Village, we have already started working with community members who sell fresh herbs, vegetables, and fish at a weekly market. The urban farm will follow sustainable, ecological, and organic practices. We will use energy efficiently, manage the farm's water on site, and recycle its waste. Viet Village will include a produce market, commercial agriculture, and community gardens, as well as an aquaponic (fish farm) component that will provide opportunities for displaced fisher people.</p>
<p>MQVN CDC is also working to develop a permanent Community-Owned Health Center. Our health center will provide comprehensive and preventative health care services for low-income, working, uninsured, and underinsured families of New Orleans East. The health center is addressing:</p>
<ul><li>The near absolute lack of primary, secondary, or tertiary care in the area; </li>
<li>Lack of linguistically and culturally appropriate services for the limited English proficient population; and </li>
<li>Geographic isolation from principal sources of care in the center of New Orleans. </li>
</ul><p>These services will be a big help to our community, where people struggle with the lack of quality, accessible healthcare on a daily basis.</p>
<p>Aside from our ongoing economic and community development work, MQVN is now working hard to help people in our community cope with BP's oil disaster. MQVN has been providing front line services to fisher people, particularly to Vietnamese-American fisher people. We hear people talk every day about how fishing work is the only work their families have done for generations, about how bills are piling up, about how the spill had robbed them of their livelihoods but they couldn't even get jobs in the clean-up efforts, because of barriers in BP's process. We've supported these families with immediate aid, provided mental health services, and helped them navigate the claims process.</p>
<p>Helping people navigate the BP claims process, which Feinberg will now be running, is a key issue for us. Of the more than 150,000 claims that have been filed, only 30% have resulted in any payment at all. Those payments usually top out at $5,000, a poor substitute for the $60,000 fisher folk expect to make in the peak summer season that is supposed to earn them enough money to carry them through the rest of the year when there are no fish. BP has profited from the gulf for decades, and has now cost families their livelihoods for decades to come. We all need to hold them accountable to compensate these families fairly, and help them get a fresh start.</p>
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<div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/key-topics/culture-and-traditions">Culture and Traditions</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/taxonomy/term/19">Environment</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/21">Recovery and Renewal</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/taxonomy/term/44">Vietnamese</a></div>
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<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/taxonomy/term/129">green jobs</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/144">mary queen of vietnam CDC</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/taxonomy/term/145">james bui</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/146">solutions</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/taxonomy/term/147">hope</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/148">farming</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/taxonomy/term/149">urban agriculture</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/150">food</a></div>
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Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:41:42 +0000Bridge The Gulf89 at http://bridgethegulfproject.orghttp://bridgethegulfproject.org/blog/2010/mary-queen-viet-nam-building-green-future-gulf-ground#commentsVisit to the Gulfhttp://bridgethegulfproject.org/blog/2010/visit-gulf
<div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden"><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><p><object width="600" height="450" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="data" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649" /><param name="flashvars" value="offsite=true&amp;lang=en-us&amp;page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2F51455778%40N06%2Fsets%2F72157624270169683%2Fshow%2F&amp;page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F51455778%40N06%2Fsets%2F72157624270169683%2F&amp;set_id=72157624270169683&amp;jump_to=" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="src" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /></object></p>
<p>I recently traveled to the Gulf Coast to volunteer for Bridge the Gulf Project. I joined LaTosha Brown, the newly appointed Director of the Gulf Coast Fund, and Derrick Evans, director of Turkey Creek Community Initiatives and an advisor to the Fund, as they traveled across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama with a filmmaker. They were visiting some of the communities that are being most immediately impacted by the BP oil disaster. I joined the effort to document the experience and help lift up the stories of these communities. Here are photographs from the trip and some background on the project. Stay tuned for upcoming videos.</p>
<p><em><strong>“This is the worst national disaster in our country’s history, and it is intimately impacting our lives.”</strong></em></p>
<p><em> - Rosina Philippe</em></p>
<p><em><strong>“All the outsiders coming in, they don’t know these people. They don’t know our story.”</strong></em></p>
<p><em>- Lora Ann Chaisson</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>As BP and the U.S. government scramble to plug the gaping hole in the Gulf of Mexico, the oil disaster continues to threaten whole ecosystems, communities, and ways of life on the Gulf Coast.</p>
<p>Across the region, communities survive and thrive in intimate relationship with the land, water, and bayou. Some peoples, like the United Houma Nation or the Showash Tribe in Grand Bayou Village, have built homes, families, communities, and livelihoods on this coast for generations and generations. Others, like Vietnamese fisherfolk in Bayou la Batre, Alabama, came here more recently seeking a respite from war and the freedom of the open water. </p>
<p>What do these people and communities, with all of their expertise, knowledge, and intimate experience of the Gulf Coast, have to say about the BP disaster? And what is their vision for the future?</p>
<p>Bridge the Gulf Project will provide this critical perspective, highlighting grassroots voices from the frontlines of a movement for a just and sustainable future. The site will provide a forum for the concerns, stories, and experiences of the communities most impacted by the destruction in the Gulf Coast.</p>
<p>Bridge the Gulf Project was developed by the Gulf Coast Fund, a vital resource and trusted presence in the region since Hurricane Katrina, and the Turkey Creek Film Project, a decade-long documentary effort in coastal Mississippi. The Fund is led by local leaders who have been providing support to community-led efforts since Hurricane Katrina. More than $150,000 has been distributed since the BP disaster began.</p>
<p>The project received initial funding in 2009 from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and was designed as a storytelling initiative providing culturally vibrant but economically and ecologically vulnerable Gulf Coast communities with new media training and a Web-based platform for conveying their rich experience and knowledge.<br /> <br />When we traveled to coastal communities in three states in June, the Gulf Coast Fund team shared information, learned about community-led responses, and heard what additional support is needed on the front lines. But beyond addressing the immediate crisis, these visits also touched on the rich stories, histories, places, and people that make the Gulf Coast such a culturally and ecologically vibrant, diverse, and distinct region. </p>
<p>Check out <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;t=h&amp;source=embed&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=116147369198026110684.00048a5dbbebd075f93e1&amp;ll=28.902397,-89.154053&amp;spn=5.547774,11.623535&amp;z=7">our slide shows</a> from this trip and stay tuned. Videos about these communities will premiere soon, with the launch of Bridge the Gulf Project.</p>
<p><em>ADA McMAHON is a freelance writer who is currently in the Gulf Region to support local community-based responses to the BP oil disaster. She previously worked at Green For All, a national non-profit that fights pollution and poverty through “green-collar jobs”, as a blogger and online organizer.</em></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; text-align: right;"><em>The opinions expressed on this Web site<span style="white-space: pre;"></span></em></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; text-align: right;"><em>represent those of individual authors and</em></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; text-align: right;"><em><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>do not necessarily represent the views of </em></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; text-align: right;"><em><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Bridge the Gulf, its partners or funders.</em></p>
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<div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/places/louisiana">Louisiana</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/taxonomy/term/15">Katrina</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/key-topics/culture-and-traditions">Culture and Traditions</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/taxonomy/term/21">Recovery and Renewal</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/24">fishermen</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/taxonomy/term/39">United Houma Nation</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/40">Rosina Phillippe</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/taxonomy/term/41">Lora Ann Chaisson</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/42">Showash</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/places/grand-bayou">Grand Bayou</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/44">Vietnamese</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/places/bayou-la-batre">Bayou la Batre</a></div>
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Wed, 30 Jun 2010 23:43:05 +0000Ada McMahon5 at http://bridgethegulfproject.orghttp://bridgethegulfproject.org/blog/2010/visit-gulf#comments